Narrative Structure in Comics: Making Sense of Fragments

by Barbara Postema

In Narrative Structure in Comics: Making Sense of Fragments, Barbara Postema seeks to explain how comics communicate and create meaning, with an emphasis on two aspects of comics. She first examines the pictorial quality of comics, which receives more emphasis than verbal/textual elements. Her second focus is upon the storytelling and narrative qualities of comics, as well as the literary explorations they provide. The “narrative structure” refers to the potential of images, the story telling capacities of panels, and the sequence of panels, in addition to the more traditional narratological concepts. Overall, the author presents a credible rationale for the way in which comics structure their narratives. At every level of communication, comics rely on gaps or absences to create meaning and guide the reader to a meaningful experience.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Art, Criticism

188 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2013

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly technical analysis on the structure of comics.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, clear introduction to narrative form in comics. The books works up from the panel through to the comic, with clear explanations and examples (I am especially fond of the recurrent use of Peanuts comic strips). This book would be accessible to anyone not already familiar with comics--it would make a good primer for an intro course on comics--but it is also well informed by theory and thoroughly researched (there are pages and pages of cited sources), and it offers numerous insightful (albeit generally short) close readings of numerous texts. It also covers a good range of "mainstream" and alternative comics. Very useful.

[Roos Zweers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive work on comic theory, that informed me how to read comics while keeping an eye out for the gaps. The examples of various panels, which were read and explained by the author, helped me a lot. I would recommend this book to anyone who studies comic theory or anyone who wants a good and clear introduction to start on their “comics journey”.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me decepcionei um tanto com esse livro. Não sei se é porque eu estava esperando muita coisa dele, ou se é porque já li livros demais sobre o assunto e acabou que esse livro me acrescentou pouco às minhas já calejadas leituras. Sempre sublinho os livros teóricos que leio e nesse, a profusão de sublinhadas aconteceu somente no último capítulo, intitulado Mostrar e Contar. Poucas vezes Postema desenvolve uma teoria e um pensamento próprio, quase sempre apoiada em outros teóricos. Mas o que torna a leitura do livro enfadonha é a repetição de análises de sequências de quadrinhos que não levam a nenhuma conclusão e que se demoram demais naquilo que (não querem) dizer. Existem muitos livros sobre a linguagem dos quadrinhos, mas ao invés de trazerem novas perspectivas para o tema, repetem as mesmas coisas que teóricos anteriores já atestaram, sem trazer nem novidades para os pressupostos científicos e nem que acabem incitando novas pesquisas nesse assunto. Assim, eu fico me indagando, com tantas outras obras carecendo de tradução e versões brasileiras sobre a linguagem dos quadrinhos, porque acabam sendo disponibilizadas aquelas que tratam os quadrinhos no seu óbvio mais ululante?!

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another critical work on comics narratology that came out in 2013. This is an accessible and well-researched work, although it's not too long or overly exhaustive. I got the sense reading this one that it might be useful for classroom use, particularly as a primary critical text for a upper-level comics course. I have no idea if the author wrote it with this in mind, but the book's conciseness and introductory approach suggest as much.

[Janina Wildfeuer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very general description of comics and their narrative structure with a lot of examples that are shortly discussed. Also, detailed description of basic analytical terms and categories (such as panel, page layout, etc.). The semiotic perspective on comics is a traditional one based on Saussure, Barthes and Eco; only few references to more text-based approaches such as Iser or Eco. Unfortunately, no mention of more contemporary approaches to image-analysis, such as multimodality, etc. that would help to make the assumptions about narrative processes more stable.
Nice: comics terminology and historical overview in the appendix.

[Ayanna Dozier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Postema's Narrative Structure in Comics: Making Sense of Fragments provides a rich and valuable analysis on comic book theory. Her insight on how temporality works in sequential images is particularly of value. More importantly though, Postema's book provides scholars of comic books and comic book theory a much need updated entry and critique of the oft -cited Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. This is not to say that McCloud's work is wrong per se, but rather that the field needs a variety of analyses on how to read comic books and other works that point out the limitations of singular analysis on the field.

[Whitney Borup · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this is a repetition of Groensteen, but she adds some interesting insight on this idea of braiding, identifying a reading practice she calls "weaving." I was also really impressed with her choice of examples - clear and simple!

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, would be extremely useful in a class as it rethread lots of important knowledge for a student wishing to learn about comics from multiple comic book critics.

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.

This is a scholarly work on the subject of “Comics” which here includes comic books, comic strips, graphic novels and sundry related items. The emphasis is on the formal elements of comics, the structure which is used to create narrative. Definition of terms and the historical development of comics as an art form are relegated to appendices.

Ms. Postema’s thesis is focused on the concept of “gaps”, which allow and require the implied reader to fill in those gaps and create the narrative. The combination of pictures and gaps and often words creates an intertextuality that makes the reader a part of the creative process.

There are numerous illustrations in both color and black & white, while other examples are merely described and the student will have to look them up for themselves. The fragments on the cover are from Shutterbug Follies by Jason Little, which is also discussed in some detail (including spoilers!) in the text. By a happy coincidence, this work is being reprinted on GoComics for free. http://www.gocomics.com/shutterbug-fo...

There’s a considerable bibliography of both scholarly works and fine comics, and a helpful index. This is, as stated before, a scholarly work that would most likely be used in college courses dealing with comics. Bright high school students with an interest in the deeper aspects of comics should be able to handle it. Id’d also recommend it to comics fans who enjoy examining formal narrative structure.